Corny Notes
by claraowl
Summary: Kuon comes back to his empty apartment after a long day of being Tsuruga Ren, only to find that Kyoko had been there in his absence. Future, established relationship fluff.


Kuon sighed, dropping the mask of Tsuruga Ren as the elevator doors closed behind him, taking him up to his apartment. It had been a long, trying day. All he wanted to do was take a shower, call Kyoko, and go to bed. Despite himself, he smiled. Kyoko. His girlfriend. He still couldn't believe it, even after this long. He ran his hand through his hair, wondering if she had used the key to his apartment he'd given her - or if she would at all. The elevator opened on his floor, and he walked down the hallway. He heaved a sigh. What an awful day it had been. But as he went to unlock his door, he noticed something.

There, on his door, was a cutesy sticky note shaped like an ear of corn with a smiling face. On it was written "Welcome home!" in the precise kanji he knew to be Kyoko's. He felt some of his stress melt away. Kyoko had been here, maybe still was. He hurriedly unlocked the door and stepped into his apartment, taking the note with him. Sadly, her shoes were not tucked into their usual place, and the apartment was dark. Still, she had actually used the key - and he knew that for sure when he bent down to take off his shoes. There was another corn-shaped sticky note with "I hope you had a good day!" written on it stuck to his house slippers. A grin spread across his face. He picked up the sticky note and shoved his feet into his slippers, hurrying into his apartment to look for more notes.

There was one on the blanket on the back of his couch, reading "Snuggly warm," and another on his new kotatsu half-teasing, half-reminding him to not fall asleep under it. He laughed. The last time she'd been over, he'd done just that - and she'd had to wake him up to make him properly go to bed. The combination of a kotatsu and Kyoko's presence had just lulled him into such a comfortable state that he had not been able to stay awake. His grin was stupidly wide now, he knew. Four little notes and his mood had done a complete one-eighty. Had she left any more?

He stepped into his - really, it was more hers - kitchen and was not surprised to find another note on his fridge. "I made dinner! Make sure to eat!" He chuckled and peeled off the note, then opened the fridge. Sure enough, there was a container with another sticky note, this one reading "Eat me!" with a little heart drawn after it. How was she so cute? How was he so lucky? He traced the heart, then peeled off the note and set the food back in the fridge. He'd call her while he ate. Right now, he was on a treasure hunt.

He found another one on his bathroom mirror, reading "My fairy prince," and he realized why the notes were shaped like ears of corn. He barked out a laugh. It had taken him way too long to get that. He could picture how her eyes must have sparkled with glee as she found the stationery. That note was added to the stack in his hand, and he stepped back into his bedroom. There was one on his nightstand, letting him know she'd be looking forward to his call. Figuring that then was a good time, he pulled out his cell and dialed.

"Hello, Kuon," she said. He could hear the smile in her voice. "How was your day?"

"Horrible until I got to my front door." His cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling. "I see you used your key."

"I had a gap in my schedule today, so I figured I'd drop by and leave a surprise for you," she replied. Her voice was tired, but happy. "Did you eat dinner yet?"

"No, I only just got home. And wanted to look for all your notes." God, this woman. He was so freaking lucky. "Thank you for those, by the way. They made my day."

She laughed, a soft sound that soothed the last of his tensions. "I'm glad you liked them. I was worried they'd be too… corny."

"Dad's been a bad influence on you."

"He may have been the one to send me those sticky notes. In bulk."

"Of course he was." He snorted.

"Kuon?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to do a video call, so you can eat while we talk?"

"Are you saying you don't think I'll actually eat?" he teased, already hitting the button to switch them to a video call.

"No!" she protested, laughing. Kyoko's face popped onto his screen a moment later. Her hair was messy and damp, like she'd just bathed but hadn't combed it yet. Her cheeks were still flush from the bath. "Well, maybe a little. But mostly I just wanted to see your face."

"Why are you so cute?" He walked out to the kitchen and grabbed his food.

"Kuoooon," Kyoko whined. "How am I supposed to _respond _to that?"

He popped his food in the microwave and set it to heat. Laughing, he asked instead of answering, "And how was your day?"

The pair of them talked while he ate his dinner and Kyoko combed out her hair and prepared for the next day. Eventually, she crawled into her futon and laid on her side as they chatted about everything and nothing. He finished his dinner just as she started yawning. Kuon watched fondly as his sleepy princess struggled to stay awake. "Don't you think it's time for bed, love?"

"But I want to talk more," she said, snuggling into her baggy pajama top.

"Wait… is that one of my shirts?"

She blushed, but grinned. "I _may _have stolen it when I was over there making dinner. I figured you wouldn't mind."

"I'm guessing there's another note in my closet?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And you wanted to do a video call to let me know where my shirt had gone?"

"May-ay-aybe," she replied, failing to stifle a yawn.

"Alright, princess. I love you."

"I love you, too," she murmured. "Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams." The call ended. Kuon stood and stretched. Maybe he would shower in the morning. He tossed the container in the sink and returned to his bedroom, notes in hand. He tucked them in the drawer in his bedside table for safekeeping, right next to the pressed four-leaf clover Kyoko had given him months ago. He changed - finding the promised note about a shirt thief - and then crawled into bed. As he laid his head on his pillow, he heard a crinkle. He flipped over the pillow to find one last note.

"Sweet dreams, my prince," it read - and was signed with a lipstick mark in LoveME pink.


End file.
